


Star-Crossed Friends

by CondorsGambit



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Sherlock Beca Mitchell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 17:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19024267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CondorsGambit/pseuds/CondorsGambit
Summary: Beca always considered herself a confident person.But once Emily starts acting suspicious a part of her can't help but think the worst.





	1. Something Special

**Author's Note:**

> This is only my 3rd attempt at writing these characters so they are still probably OC.

The best part of Beca’s morning is Emily.

Emily knows how much Beca hates mornings and goes out of her way to get up a few minutes before their alarm goes off to make her coffee. Then Emily attempts to sneak back into the room to shut off the alarm and kissing Beca until she is awake.

The worst part of Beca’s morning is the rare occasion where she is woken up by her alarm. But today Beca has found an even worse hell, waking up because of someone else's phone. Beca smacks the desk haphazardly trying to silence the offending device without having to turn her body or open her eyes. Instead of completing this task all she does is hear a quiet thud as the phone falls to the ground. Groaning Beca accepts her fate and opens her eyes to figure out where the phone had gone. In the darkness, it is easy to see Emily’s bright background that is facing straight up. Not one to pry Beca tries to silence the phone without reading the notification, but curiosity got the better of her.

 **J xD**  
**Hey I get out of class at 10 if you want to get coffee?**

“Oh hey baby, you're already awake. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” Emily says giggling as she walks in the room attempting to balance the two cups and a muffin in her hands. Quickly throwing the phone at the desk Beca turns and gives Emily a quick kiss on the cheek and grabbing the coffee out of her hands. “Well before you ask yes, I, your amazing girlfriend, snuck you the last muffin. I will take my ‘worlds best girlfriend’ mug now please.”

“I was going to get it for you but someone named Sophie got the mug last week, and there is a month wait before I can contest the results. So until then, you’ll have to live with my gratitude. So what are your plans for today?” Beca utters as she pulls Emily into bed so they can spend a little time together before the day starts.

As Beca leans her head unto Emily’s shoulders she proclaims with much to energy for 9 am, “Today is going to be amazing I can just feel it. My classes before noon got canceled so I can just spend the entire morning with you. Then I have my psych class to go to, which will be easy as always. Then we got practice and finally, we have date night. I hope you are ready for what I have planned, this is my Mona Lisa of date ideas.” If it had been anyone else, specifically a certain red-headed Bella, that had announced they have any Mona Lisa tier idea Beca would have shut it down without hesitation. Yet in the 3 months they have been dating, Emily hasn’t had a bad idea for a date night yet. “Anyways what about your day? Please don’t be mad, but I accidentally grabbed your phone this morning when I was getting ready this morning by mistake.”

“I could never be mad at you Em, you know that.” Beca says joking, despite all of the Bella’s constantly making fun of the fact Beca actually can’t get mad at Emily no matter what she does, “Plus it is not like I have anything on my phone to hide. The worst that could happen is you stumble upon an upcoming setlist I am working on. I think your phone is over here let me grab it for you.” As Emily grabbed the phone she has a shadow of a smile on her face for a quick second before turning the screen off and putting it in her pocket. “But unlike you, I have class at 11 so I still have to get ready eventually, besides that just practice and date night.”

“How about you go jump in the shower real quick before Chloe gets up so you still have some hot water.”

“Fine, after that want to grab lunch somewhere before I have to have class? I think that pancake opens soon and if I hurry I am sure you can get the Rasplosion pancake you love so much.” Rummaging through her drawers trying to find a decent outfit for the day Beca barely pays attention to Emily’s focus on her phone as she throws out the suggestion.

“I’d love to sweetie, but I don’t want to rush you so why don’t you just take your time. We can grab lunch between classes though if you are free?” This makes Beca stop and actually look at Emily, she loves the Rasplosion pancake almost as much as she loves the Bellas. Something must be up if she was willingly not taking up the offer for one. What's even weirder is the fact she hasn’t looked up from her phone in at least 45 seconds. For someone who constantly goes on and on about how she prefers phone calls to texts, it is shocking, to say the least.

“Want to meet around 1:15 near the quad so we can decide where to go then?” Emily nods and grabs her things before leaving Beca alone wondering what on earth just happened. And why was Emily so distracted by her phone.

~~                 ~~

Generally, Beca considers herself a confident person. Even though she would never admit it to anyone she does have the rare moment when she is worried she isn’t good enough for Emily. Somehow her snarky, aloof, angry self ended up going out with the actual embodiment of sunshine. Although she may try to be more upbeat when she is with Emily, she is afraid it is hard to notice under her normal attitude. Whenever she thinks about the concept of opposites attract she would expect more like Jake and Amy in Brooklyn 99, not her and Emily. If someone had told her she would date a Bella she would have bet money on the fact it would be Stacie since at least they have the same lax attitude about most things. Emily is an enigma that Beca hopes to spend her entire life trying to solve. Even in the face of death Beca would never truly admit how much Emily has changed her life, she had been struggling for a while on music and worried that she really wouldn’t amount to anything in the world, then came Emily and her unbridled enthusiasm and belief in Beca’s abilities that helped her find her inspiration again. She had lost tracks months ago the number of times Emily had helped her out with various things without even being asked to.

Sitting in a 200 level philosophy class made it easy for her to space out and just think. And the worst part of that is she couldn’t get that message she saw out of her head. Who is J? Was the reason Emily chose to not get breakfast together so she could meet them for coffee?

She really wishes she never saw the text this morning and opened this wormhole of self-doubt.

 **Moon of my life** **  
** **I am heading out now to meet you. See you soon B!!!!!!**

The ringing of the bell shook Beca out of her stupor more than the text did. She is used to getting the occasional update from Emily during the day and knows that even if she replies the text will most likely not be responded too. Grabbing her stuff and rushing out of the room before the rush of students leaving the building in order to not be late to her meeting with Emily in 5 minutes.

Still so lost her thoughts she physically walks into Emily before she even realizes she is in the quad. There is a millisecond where they both look at each other both a million miles away from where they are right now before they snap out of it. They hug quickly and Emily loops her arm around Beca’s as she leads them to wherever she decided they will be eating. “Oh my stars, I saw this picture of this seal this morning holding a plushie of a seal while SMILING. I almost died when I saw it. If the last moments of my life had been this seal it would have been a happy end. It was almost as cute as you are when you are sleepy.” Emily says while skipping through the quad as Beca awkwardly tries to keep pace since their arms are still looped together.

“Also my mom called. She wanted to know if you wanted to get dinner with us next week. I wasn’t sure if you would but I don’t think she will let you get out of it. Don’t worry though babe it will be better than last time. Pinky promise.” If anyone else had even attempted to push such a major decision on Beca so casually while forcing her to do extra physical effort she would have told them off right then and there. She shouldn’t be forced to speed walk in order to keep up with her girlfriend. It’s not her fault her girlfriend has the longest legs on the planet. There is some form of karmic justice at play here, she just doesn’t understand what she did to deserve it.

“Babe. Babe. Babe, are you listening?” Emily says slowing down.

“Yea sorry I am. We could get dinner if it would make you happy.”

“Babe I said dinner with my mom next week. Is everything okay? Am I talking too much? Oh my stars if I am being annoying you can tell me I know how much you hate your last class. Oh shoot I am doing it again aren’t I.”

“Nah dude you are good. Dinner with your mom sounds great. I am just a little more tired than I thought I guess. And no matter how much you may annoy me, I will always want to hear what you have to say. Don’t tell anyone else though, they would start using you as a proxy to talk to me about things I don’t care about.”

Looking ahead Beca realized they had already gotten to the sushi place. Either they had nearly sprinted the entire time or she missed a lot more of that conversation than she thought. It really doesn’t seem like anything is wrong. Emily would have mentioned the person by now if they had met up for coffee so maybe she should just relax and have a fun time at lunch.

~~       ~~

Luckily practice had run rather short today since they had pretty much mastered the set for the upcoming show. Meaning they had about 30 extra minutes that they normally don’t have. Looking around the room Beca was able to find Emily off to the side having a conversation with Jessica or was it, Ashley, she could never remember which was which. They seemed to be having a pretty serious conversation though since they were facing away from everyone whispering about something between themselves. Not wanting to be that person Beca just grabbed out her phone and played on it for a few minutes until Emily was done.

“What's wrong with you Bec, you look like someone just told you your favorite line of headphones got discontinued again,” Stacie says startling Beca. She is surprised anyone was here since practice ended 5 minutes ago and usually the girls rush back to try to get into the showers first.

“I strictly remember telling everyone the next person who jokes about that day will be kicked from the Bellas. I expect your keys by morning.” Beca growled at the girl who only laughed in return.

People may not realize it but Beca is pretty sure Stacie is her best friend, even though she would never tell anyone in fear of letting Chloe know. Stacie has always been the one who has had her back about the more unpopular decisions she has to make as captain. She feels it has to do with the time she almost got suspended for fighting that senior who tried to roofie Stacie at a party.

“If I leave so does 50% of the sex appeal. You guys would be ruined without me. Anyways do you want to tell me why you are alone here playing on your phone and not with Em? She was really excited about tonight. And I love you girl but if you ditch Emily tonight I will have to stop being your BFF.” This causes Beca to shoot up and look over Stacie’s shoulder to where she had last seen Emily. Looking around Beca realizes everyone is gone besides the two of them. Meaning she either got ditched or she missed some sort of memo about what the plan is for tonight.

“I was waiting for her right here. Maybe she forgot the plans?”

The nagging feeling that something is off has returned and Beca has a feeling she may be the one at fault. Of course, Emily would move on, she deserves someone who loves the world as much as she does. No matter what Beca does she is never able to be as romantic, or energetic, or upbeat, or helpful as Emily is at all times.

“Girl I can hear you overthinking from here. Just shoot her a text she seemed to be having a fairly intense conversation with Jessica when I saw her last maybe she started to walk and talk, she did that with me once and almost walked into my physics midterm with me until I mentioned she will be late if she doesn’t run.”

~~       ~~

 **My sun and Stars** **  
** **Hey. are we still on for tonight? You vanished after practice.**

“Oh my Stars. I ditched Beca. What do I do?” Emily yells suddenly after feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket.  
  
“Its okay Em. Just text Beca you wanted to shower really quick before the date. To help out I can go grab a rose for her from the flower place nearby while you shower and get ready. Sound good?” Emily doesn’t get why the rest of the Bellas don’t spend more time with Ashley and Jessica. She may not be as close with Ashley but Jessica is took her under the wing right when she joined the Bellas. She can’t even name the number of times she ranted to Jessica about her crush on Beca before got the courage to ask her out. She does feel bad that since she and Beca started dating she hasn’t had as much time for Jessica but they still try and meet to get coffee at least once a week.

“I don’t know what I would do without you. Thank you. Don’t tell the other Bellas but you are like my actual favorite outside of Beca.”  
  
“Who would I tell outside of Ashley? I swear half the time the other girls totally forget we exist.” That was something Emily never really understood. Ashley was really smart and funny and great ideas that Beca and Chloe never seem to listen too. While Jessica is the most upbeat person Emily has ever met, she is so genuine and kind and always doing so much Bellas even though nobody ever recognizes her for it. She has tried more than once to get the two girls recognition but one of them always stops her before she voices it to Beca or at a meeting.

“Ashley can’t feel bad either. I love you both enough for all the Bella’s. I guess I should probably go run and get ready though shouldn’t I. If I spend any more time worrying about tonight I may panic during it. Thanks again your the best.” Emily yells as she runs off towards the house to rush and get ready. Shooting a quick text to Beca letting her know she had to get ready and will meet her outside the house in about 30 minutes.

~~       ~~

“You remember the plan right Em? Take Beca to the lake and Ashley will be there waiting with the fireworks. We already contacted the school so they know it’s going to happen. You look fantastic and you will have an amazing evening.” Jessica stated as she does a little touch up on Emily’s hair last minute. Nobody will realize how long the three of them had planned this night. Emily knows Beca isn’t one for grand gestures, and will probably hate this. But if you are given the chance for fireworks to go off as you tell someone you love them for the first time, you take the chance you know? If it goes wrong at least Emily will have a great story for her therapist. She isn’t even sure how to begin to repay Jessica and Ashley for all they have done for her since she arrived. But definitely the past few weeks, they went above and beyond in order to help her run a legal fireworks show.

“I guess I shouldn’t keep her waiting you know. You’re aca-awesome.” Giving the girl a quick hug, and grabbing the rose from her hand, Emily opens the door to see Beca just playing on her phone waiting for Emily to come out. Turning to look at her she realizes that somehow in the past 30 minutes Beca also was able to sneak into the house and grab her favorite black dress and freshen up from the practice.

“For you M’lady,” Emily says pretending to tip a fedora and handing Beca the rose.

“If you do that again I will break up with you. Also, You didn’t tell me what to wear so I guessed. You always said this dress was your favorite and thought it may work. Guessing by your attire I say I guessed well.” There was a near tangible level of electricity flowing between the two girls as they walked. Anyone who saw the two girls could tell they were in their own little world as they walked to the lake. Any issues or problems they had faded away as they walked hand in hand towards the lake.

“Em, before we get this on the way I have something I really wanted to say. I know usually I hate grand gestures but I planned this one for you in the past 20 minutes, which isn’t much but you know I tend to wing things so that's the most planning for a non-Bella performance I have done since we met.” Panic shot through Emily as she realizes her entire plan will be thrown off if something happens right now. So before Beca is able to get out another word Emily leans forward and presses their lips together, hoping to buy a few seconds to think of a plan.

“Come on baby lets go sit down first, I got something I need to get off of my chest before we can continue.”

“Can I please get mine out of the way first? It’s really important and will only take like 30 seconds.”

Nearby Stacie and Chloe were watching this slowly fall apart. They have been trailing the pair since they left the house. They were recruited on the fly by Beca to help create a romantic scene for the two of them. Which is much harder said than done when they don’t even completely know what the plan is for the night. No matter how hard Stacie pressed Emily she wouldn’t tell her the plan, just that it will be a very memorable night. So both girls were squatting in a bush 10 feet away watching the girls quietly argue about who is going to go first. Even though it was plain to both girls that the couple is planning on doing the exact same thing.

Further away Ashley was also lying in wait. She had been there for at least 20 minutes and had seen Beca and Emily arrive, as well as the arrival of Chloe and Stacie about a minute later. Despite not being able to hear the conversation Ashley knows that Emily will win and get Beca into position. The real issue is how does she get Chloe and Stacie to leave without Emily noticing them. Not having much of a choice she pulls out her phone and calls Chloe in order to get them to leave before Em texts her to set off the fireworks.

“Hey, Ashley? Do you need something now isn’t really a great time.” Chloe whispers as she moves behind a tree further away from the couple.

“You two need to leave right now, Emily planned something special and you two may throw off the entire plan.  
  
“Beca has planned something and she needs our help. Wait how do you know we are here? Can you see us?” Looking around Chloe tries to spot the girl on the other end without giving away that she is also there.

“I am on the other side of the lake near the big tree.”  
  
“We are coming over right now don’t move. So we can explain to you Beca’s plan and maybe you can help us.” Chloe hangs up the phone before Ashley can tell them it's not technically safe to come over to where she is. Signaling for Stacie to follow her, Chloe makes her way around the lake as quickly as she can without letting Emily notice she is there.

“Ashley, what are you doing here? It’s rude to be spying those two on their date.”

“How am I being rude? I have been helping out Emily for several weeks on this date and I need to be here to operate the fireworks.”

“Oooo did you say fireworks? What exactly are you about to do?” Stacie says joining the pair of them.

“Emily planned to let Beca know she loved her tonight and wanted fireworks to go off to commemorate the moment. I am licensed to handle fireworks this size so I have to be here when she wants to set them off. The real question is what you two are doing here.”

“Ooh man, that's so cool. How come Emily didn’t come to us to help? As Beca’s best friend I would have been super useful in planning this reveal. I know all sorts of things that she could have done to help with this. Also doesn’t she know I banned any Bella from using fireworks after the incident where Cynthia-Rose burned her hair.” Chloe starts to rant before Ashley suddenly looks down at her phone seeing she has a text from Jessica.

~~       ~~

The key to this entire plan working is that Jessica is supposed to be the lookout for any suspicious behavior in the park that may throw off the plan and deal with it. She honestly feels bad lying to Ashley that she had gotten permission for this to work, she really tried her best to get it to work but in the end, the school refused to let her.

The worst part was that in her attempts to get it she had told the day and time she wanted to do it before she got a solid yes, meaning that security was most likely going nearby in case they tried anything anyways. Although she had already created a plan for getting her and Ashley out if anything had gone wrong, the addition of Stacie and Chloe made it nearly impossible to still pull off.

Hearing rustling nearby and a light appearing Jessica knows that security has arrived, and unless the fireworks go off in the next 30 seconds she will have to call the whole thing off. The rustling that Stacie and Chloe made making their way to Ashley didn’t help the situation at all.

~~       ~~

 **Jess:** **  
****Grab the stuff and get the girls out of there. Campus security is here. They told me we had to cancel the fireworks due to the lack of rain the past few weeks. I’ll call Emily and let her know.**  
  
“What did Jessica say? Are we about to get a free firework show? I may still be pissed off that everyone let me out of the loop until just now but at least it will be a cool bonding experience for us.” Chloe said leaning over Ashley's shoulder trying to read the text. Handing her phone to the curious girl Ashley works her way to where the fireworks were set and start to dismantle it. She isn’t sure how long they have to vacate and so she should be fast. She just prays Emily will be able to change plans.

“Hey Ash, I am just letting you know Emily texted you saying ‘fire at will’”

~~      ~~

Even though Beca is slightly annoyed at the fact that both Chloe and Stacie seemed to ditch her because they ignored hand signal they worked on to set off her plan. She followed Emily to the bench and promised to find another way to let the girl know she loves her before the end of the night. As they sat down she saw Emily try to stealthily send a text to someone.

“Hey, Beca. I know we have been only been dating for 3 months it feels so much longer. You are my best friend and the best part of my day…” Emily said before they both jumped at her phone suddenly going off. Ignoring the call she tries to continue her speech. “ Like I was saying your the best part of my day, when we first met I never would have expected for anything to happen. I mean your the Beca Mitchell, I was in awe of you. Every day with you is like living a dream. One that I hope to have every single day…”

With a huff of annoyance, Emily looks down at her phone trying to silence it so she can finish what she is trying to say.  
  
**J xD** **  
** **Call me it is important, something came up.**

“Oh my stars, I really need to take this real quick, please don’t move a muscle. Don’t even breath.” Emily says rushing into the forest to answer the call. Beca tries to give the girl space, but with how clumsy and awkward Emily is it is nearly impossible to not see the glaringly obvious text she goy. It is the same person from this morning. That weird feeling appears in the pit of her stomach again.

From the second Emily started her speech Beca knew where it was going. It was going to the same place she planned on going with the help of Stacie and Chloe before they vanished. So who on earth is this J person who is so important that Emily would get up and leave in the middle of the speech?

Part of her screamed to run away from this. To close herself off again and not risk letting Emily hurt her. She was adept at not letting anyone close before she met Emily. But the girl had broken down all the walls she had. Was she so smitten with Emily that she missed the flags that had always been there? How long had this J person been in Emily’s life and how come Emily never mentioned them before?  
  
Beca could almost feel herself overthinking and tried to calm herself down. Emily would never hurt her, she wouldn’t even hurt a fly. She can just ask the girl who was on the phone and this entire misunderstanding will be behind them.

It may have only been about 3 minutes since Emily left but it felt like a lifetime. No matter what Beca thinks about it keeps going back to who Emily is talking too. She never realized how easy it is to work yourself up over something that is almost nothing.  
  
“Hey babe, sorry about that,” Emily says walking back into view. If the lighting had been a little bit better Beca would have noticed the tear that Emily quickly wiped from her eyes as she sat back down on the bench.  
“It's okay, so who was that on the phone?”

“It was nobody.”  Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Beca can almost feel the panic in her rise at the various obvious lie Emily had told. It had to be someone important for her to rush off so suddenly.

“So what were you saying before you got interrupted by nobody again?” If Emily won’t tell her who was on the phone at least she can at least finish their conversation so Beca can finally tell Emily she loves her. Emily planned the night the least she could do is let her say it first.

“Oh. Um… I… I don’t really remember. It is kinda chilly though, do you want to go to the diner nearby and get sundaes? It could be fun.” Realistically the speech that Emily was giving before she left felt like it had been written down and practiced. She knows how socially flustered Emily gets so there is no way she had completely come up with that speech in the moment. So what that had J said to change her mind on saying it.

“Lead the way Ms. Junk, you're in charge tonight.”


	2. Aftermath, and a promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is still OC sorry, it will get better.

Everything has gone wrong. From the second Emily got the text from Jessica she knew something was not right. Now here she is, trying to salvage a date with the woman she loves without her realizing everything has been ruined. She fakes her enthusiasm at the Diner and tries to act as if this was the plan she had in mind the entire time.

“Earth to Em. You okay? You seem a little lost in the clouds, and that's not just because your legs are a mile long.”

“Me? Yea I am aca-awesome. Wait shoot. Stacie told me I to not say that around you, told me it would remind you of Aubrey.”

“Well, I for one think its aca-awesome you take me into consideration. But tell anyone I ever said that I will break up with you I swear to god. I’m very serious babe.” Even if everything else fell apart at least Emily will always be able to hold this part of tonight close to her heart. She knows how long Chloe has been trying to get Beca to say an acapella related joke just once. She even heard a rumor that there is a $20 prize for anyone who can get proof of Beca making the joke.

“I won’t tell anyone I pinky promise. Is there anything you want to do? We have about 30 minutes before Chloe comes looking for us.”

“Not really, why don’t we just head home and relax, I would love to get out of this dress. It may look great but I miss my sweats.”

“So. Um. Like about that. I would love nothing more than to cuddle with you in bed I actually have to do something as soon as we get home so I think I will probably end up sleeping in my room tonight.” Jessica had been vague in her explanation as to why the fireworks couldn’t go off and she has a feeling it will take a while to figure out some sort of a backup plan.

“Oh.”

“I will make it up to you. How about this Saturday we spend all day laying in bed playing music? It will be totes fun.” Even if Beca won’t say it out loud it is easy to tell she is disappointed. And it breaks Emily’s heart knowing that she is the cause of that sadness and that she can’t fix it without ruining her plan.

~~       ~~

Jessica knows any second now Emily will be getting home and coming to her room to talk about what went wrong. But no matter what she does she can’t seem to convince Chloe and Stacie to leave. It’s even weirder because she doesn’t think either of them have even been in her room before. Most of the time she wondered if anyone besides Emily even knows where her and Ashley’s room was.

“Chloe for the last time. Can you please just let me talk to Emily alone before you start interrogating her? I know you are offended she didn’t include you but I know she must be hurting right now.” She loves all the Bellas but it is times like this she is happy she is usually left in the background. Whenever it was just her and Ashley they could pretty much do anything they wanted without any issue. Even when Emily joined the mix nobody seemed to really acknowledge them any more than before

“I can’t do that. Bellas are supposed to be there for each other and she will need us to be there for her.”  
  
“Babe, you realize the two of us ditched Beca and didn’t help her plan like an hour ago right? Wouldn’t it be smarter if you went to Beca and explained why we vanished instead of harassing Em?” Stacie and Jessica may not talk much, but if they have anything in common it is the fact they are both protective of Emily. Silently thanking Stacie, Jessica watches Chloe process the fact she had in fact abandoned Beca earlier tonight without realizing it. After campus security came they were all so panicked trying to get out of there they sort of forgot about the whole thing. That is until about 30 minutes ago when Chloe and Stacie knocked on her door and sat down waiting to meet with Emily.

“Oh my god, I am a terrible best friend. I bet nobody else would have abandoned her in her time of need like I did. What do I do to make this right guys?”  
  
“We abandoned her together Chlo. Just wait until they get back and catch Beca before she goes to bed, tell her I got sick and you helped me home. I can stay here and talk to Em and inform you in the morning?” Content with the plan Chloe leaves the room leaving Jessica, Ashley, and Stacie to themselves to wait for Emily to return.

“That reminds me, Ashley. How on earth did you get a fireworks license anyways? What other weird things can you do we don’t know about?”  
  
“Ooh, I got it last summer while working at a fireworks factory for a few weeks. I can’t think of anything too special but I have an A class license and know how to ride a motorcycle. In fact, both of us can ride motorcycles.” Jessica thinks back fondly at that memory, it was last summer. After Ashley had finished up at the fireworks factory neither really had any plans over the summer.

Instead of wasting time and being bored. They decided they should learn how to ride a motorcycle. It was that or try and get their pilot's license and that seems really stressful. They both have bikes back home but didn’t bring them to campus worried that one of the Bellas may accidentally do something to them.

“Huh. I am sorry we have been pretty shitty about including you guys in things. I know Emily talks about you guys a lot but I feel bad that it took her for any of us to really interact with you two.”

“We never really cared. We are okay just being in the background. It may have hurt a little at first but we got used to it. No need to feel sorry. Anyways I think I heard the front door open so Emily should be getting here any second.” The trio could hear the pleasantries being exchanged outside of the room as Emily said goodnight to Beca. Jessica could feel worry building in her stomach, hoping she didn’t ruin Emily’s night to much. Outside of Ashley, Emily is her best friend and she would hate to hurt her. Especially after how much planning they had put towards tonight, she feels terrible for lying about getting permission but she genuinely thought that it was all going to work out. If Emily was able to get Beca to sit down just a little bit sooner they could have pulled it off

After hearing some shuffling up the stairs all 3 girls waited in anticipation. They knew Emily wouldn’t want Beca to know this is where she is going so they expected a delay of a few seconds. What they weren’t expecting was for the door to be swung open and have a teary-eyed Emily run into the room. Reacting fastest Jessica grabs the girl and pulls her into a tight hug.

“It’s okay Em. Let it out. We can talk when you are ready.”  
  
“Oh my stars Jessica I ruined everything. I panicked the entire time and Beca probably hates me now because I was so weird and distant the entire time. I should just crawl into a hole and die. Why can’t I be better at this? I just wanted to surprise her and I ruined everything.”

“Sweetie, you didn’t ruin anything I promise. You shouldn’t tell you this but Beca asked me and Chloe to help surprise you on the date. That girl thinks the world of you and nothing you could do would ruin it.” Stacie says moving to the bed where Jessica and Emily are and rubbing Emily’s back. The tears Emily are choking out start to slow down as she starts to process what she has heard.

“Stacie, you knew about this?”

“Not willingly. I saw her and Chloe as I was setting up the fireworks and signaled the two of them over to me. I gave them a quick recap of everything though.” Ashley says joining the conversation.

“Oh. So Chloe knows too? Is she mad at me? I don’t think I can handle letting anyone else down tonight.”

“She isn’t mad. She wishes she knew so she could help you. But she would never be mad at you planning a surprise for Beca.”

“Why isn’t she here?”  
  
“We thought she might be a little intense for you sweetie, so we convinced her to leave and go talk to Beca. Though I expect she will be cornering you soon” Jessica says. “How was the rest of the date anyway?”  
Jessica quickly realized that was the wrong thing to ask because Emily started to tear up again.

“It was awful. I…I...I tried to make a fun plan. But she knew something was...was...was off. She was so disappointed Jess. I ru...rui...ruined everything.”  
  
“Hey. Hey. It’s okay. We can figure this out okay. Me and Ash…”  
  
“And me”  
  
“And Stacie. Will do everything in our power to help plan something else for you okay. I promise we will figure this out.”  
  
“Pinky promise?”  
  
“I double pinky promise.” Before the girls could pinky promise though Stacie sticks her hand out and promises Emily instead.  
  
“We all promise to help you out. So why don’t you get your cute butt to bed and we can meet tomorrow to brainstorm some ideas?” Stacie says.

“If you need to you can stay here with me and Ashley, we don’t mind.”  
  
“Thank you, Jess. But I sort of miss my bed, I haven’t been there in ages.”

“Sleep well then. I love you, tomorrow will be a better day I promise.”

Watching the two girls leave Jessica looks over at Ashley. “We have to figure out what to do before this gets too out of hand.”

~~       ~~  
After the rough night that they had, Beca promised to try harder to be a better girlfriend to Emily. She may have hidden her disappointment about the evening well from Emily, but she still feels terrible. Emily is always going out of her way to do so many kind things for Beca, while she barely returns the favor. She has always tried to be better but never sure how to.  
  
The least she could do is start small.

Getting up extra early Beca goes about her morning routine and makes sure to make some of Emily’s favorite hot chocolate to give her to wake her up. Sneaking downstairs extra quietly in order to not wake up Emily, or any of the other girls for that matter.

Although Beca had planned on checking on Stacie later, she hadn’t planned on seeing the girl up at 7 am after the graphic explanation Chloe had given to her last night about how sick she was.  
  
“Hey, dude, nice to see you're alive. Chloe made it seem like you wouldn’t last the night.”

“Please, You know how dramatic that girl can be when any of us are sick. Remember when she took Flo to the hospital because she had a fever of 100? I love the girl but she needs to chill.”

“True. Anyways why are you up so ungodly early anyways?”

“Unlike some people. I regularly get up early. You think a bod like this happens on accident? 3 miles each morning and 30 minutes of yoga.  Maybe if the rest of you pitches did this you wouldn’t all die during practice. More importantly, why are you awake? I distinctly remember you once told me you would stab anyone who wakes you up before 9 am.”

“After you guys bailed last night I think I hurt Em’s feelings. I wanted to get up early and surprise her to make it up to you. Yah know?”  
  
“Damn girl you got it bad. Who would have thought you would be so whipped. Usually, I keep those in the bedroom.”

“Jesus no. Am I not allowed to be nice to my girlfriend?” Stacie just gave Beca an odd look before heading upstairs to shower. Ignoring that Beca goes about getting the items to make Emily a nice breakfast.

Beca has spent a lot of time making sure none of the girls know how good of a cook she is because she will never hear the end of it. When they learned Flo could make great desserts, Beca swears the girl didn’t leave the kitchen for a week because of how much the girls asked her to bake.

But she hoped nobody besides Stacie would be up at this hour since none of the Bella’s had classes before 10 this term.

After about 30 minutes, and the destruction of most of the kitchen, Beca had successfully made breakfast without any of the Bella’s finding her. Now all she had to do was navigate the house successfully without dropping a tray full of a plate of pancakes, two cup of coffee, and some orange slices.

“Hey, Beca.”  
  
“Jesus dude. You scared the shit out of me, can’t you tell I am busy with something?” Beca says jumping at the sudden voice behind her.

“Sorry. You have a nice breakfast in bed?”  
  
“What no. This is for Emily, I think I sort of hurt her feelings or whatever. Why is everyone judging me for being nice.”

“I wasn’t...”

“Good”

“Just didn’t expect you to be making pancakes so early for anyone.”  
  
“Shockingly, I can be nice dude.”

“Touche. Anyways, I got things to do I shall be seeing you.”

“See you later….”  
  
“Jessica.”

“Right, Jessica. I knew that. See you later dude.” As Beca turns to continue her quest to Emily’s room she sees Jessica tilt her head with a very peculiar look in her eye. But who knows what on earth know what that means, and now is not the time to be worried about it since she can only hold this breakfast steady for so long.

Slowly working her way to the door Beca pauses, realizing she doesn’t know how to actually open the door without dropping something, or in the worse case everything, she is holding. Not wanting to risk her hard work she puts the tray on the ground and open the door very slowly and quietly, and grabs the tray.

Despite the fact, Emily shares a room with Stacie it is practically impossible to tell. Since Emily spends most nights with Beca, and Stacie loves to have an organized space so she is constantly making sure the room is spotless. Plus Stacie was here first so at least 75% of the room was claimed by the time Emily moved in, but it is easy to spot her little nook since it has a bed and multiple posters of musicals.

“Hey Baby. I made breakfast.” Beca whispers into Emily’s ear as she places the tray on her bedside table.

“Ugh. 5 more minutes mom.” Emily whimpers half asleep.

“I know we haven’t talked about kinks much babe, but I don’t think I like that one,” Beca says laughing at Emily’s half-conscious antics.

“Blah. I don’t gotta get up for 10 minutes to make Beca apology coffee.”  
  
“Sorry to tell you. But I already beat you to that one. Now wake up before the pancakes get cold.”

Shooting up with more energy than Beca thought would be possible for the girl mere seconds ago, “DID YOU SAY PANCAKES. Oh my stars Beca you’re the best girlfriend ever. I don’t deserve you.” Grabbing the tray on the table beside her Beca places it on Emily’s lap carefully so nothing would drop.

“Hey, dude. You do shit all the time for me the least I can do is make you breakfast as thanks for the wonderful date we had last night.” Beca says playfully she tries to grab an orange slice before Emily slaps her hand laughing. “Ooh, so that's how you want to play this, Junk?”

“Maybe it is,” Emily says sticking her tongue out at Beca while laughing.

“Well. Guess I won’t make you breakfast again then, so cherish it while it lasts. This is the last ever Beca Mitchell special you will ever receive.”

“Nooooooo. You can’t do that babe. Please do this again. For me?” Emily says while giving Beca her best puppy eyes. Beca hates knowing that it 100% has worked and she can already tell that she will be doing this again in the near future.

“Maybe if you gave me an orange slice I could be persuaded to do this again someday,” Beca says reaching for a slice again. Emily gives her a wary eye but doesn’t reach to stop her hand this time. Humming happily Beca eats the slice whole. 

**J xD** **  
****I think I have an idea of how to fix the Beca issue. Call me when you can. Hope you are feeling better after last night.** **  
**

Both girls turn to look at the phone going off on the table. In Emily’s panic to turn it off without Beca reading it, she smacks the phone and accidentally sends it flying off the desk. Before she can move the tray though Beca leans over and sees the phone face up.

Every part of Beca screams in panic at the text. Who is this person that has now popped up 3 times in the past day? What is the so-called ‘Beca issue’, has something gone wrong? Emily seemed fine when they split up last night, does that mean Emily had met up with this person after the date ended?

The panic starts to swell within Beca as she tries to casually hand the phone over the Emily.

“Whoopsies. Thanks for grabbing my phone babe.” Emily says kissing Beca on the cheek as thanks.

“Ooh. Like. No problem dude. You know me. Phone grabber extraordinaire.” Beca mumbles trying to stay calm. Watching Emily as she reads the text quickly and puts the phone face down on the tray. “Anything important?”

“Nope,” Emily says popping her P.

“Oookay. So how are the pancakes?”

“I love them Beca you have no idea. If I knew you would make me breakfast I would sleep down here way more often.” Emily says laughing at the face Beca makes at the joke.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Beca says more harshly than she intended. She can see Emily's eyes flash in pain for a split second before going back to normal.  
  
“Sorry. I thought it was funny.” Emily says trailing off a little hurt.

“I am sorry. I am so used to sleeping with you I didn’t sleep well last night. Then I got up early for this breakfast. If you don’t mind though I may grab a quick shower and hope it can wake me up.”

“If you want to give me like 5 minutes I could join you.”  
  
“Or I could shower, then come back and we can relax in your bed for a bit before we need to get ready for class,” Beca says trying to casually exit the room.  
  
“That sounds perfect. See you in like 20?”  
  
“See you then.” As Beca walks out of the room she notices out of the corner of her eye Emily grabbing her phone and starting to type out a message to someone.

Beca may trust Emily with her entire being. But she can tell something is going on, and she will get to the bottom of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wraps up the preface to the main story. Hope you guys enjoy what I have planned.


	3. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I moved so this chapter took longer than expected. Next chapter should be less than a week.

Emily knows that she may come off a bit strong, or weird, or awkward when it comes to people in general. When she first joined the Bella’s she originally felt so out of sync with everyone. Felt as if she was always the only person who wasn’t a part of some inside joke since in most cases she actually was. Even though the girls have always tried to include her, or try and explain the context of some weird convoluted joke that they share, most of the time she feels as if she was a total outsider.

Part of her wonders if that’s why Jessica and Ashley originally befriended her, since out of everyone else they seemed to be the most out of the group. When everyone else was laughing at a joke or making a reference that was totally lost to Emily, the other two looked to be about as informed as her on a lot of it. Which was part of why they originally started talking. She remembers the day clearly, Jessica had invited her to hang out after practice one day out of the blue.

It was the same day she started to develop feelings for Beca since it was the first practice they had any extended interaction. It was mostly about the group and how to keep up and basic things, but after all, she had read over the years about how cold and distant Beca was to everyone, she was shocked at how nice and soft she was during the explanation. She was even willing to answer all her stupid question Emily had without one giving a snide remark or acting as if she had anything better to do.

Both were major events in her life and it was a shock at how mundane everything was looking back at it.  
  
_“Listen up Bellas, after seeing what Das Sound Machine can do we need to up our game. Now Chloe will go over some new choreography for all of you while I help Legacy out.” I looked up startled, and look at Beca who points her finger towards the door and starts heading that way. I look around awkwardly trying to see if anyone knew why I was being taken aside but nobody seemed to look my way besides Jessica or was it Ashley, who looked over with a smile and gave a tiny wave before heading over to where she needed to be._

_Every fiber of my being filled with fear though because I was probably about to be kicked out of the Bella's. I mean it made sense they wouldn’t want to train a ‘legacy’ who only got in because my mom was a Bella. At least Beca had the decency to do it in private so I wouldn’t be embarrassed further._

_Bracing myself I put on a brave face and head after Beca because I refuse to cry in front of everyone else. What I hadn’t expected was to see Beca casually leaning against the wall looking at me with a smile on her face._

_“Hey, Legacy. I’m sorry for calling you out but I thought we should meet one on one. Me and Chloe met and we felt that it was unfair to not get you up to speed, and with how busy things are I thought I could do it during practice.” Beca explains I assume she can tell from my face I am expecting something terrible to happen. I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding._

_“Oh my stars. I was so worried. I thought, `This is it. It was a fun three weeks of being a Bella but my watch has ended.’ Which would have been devastating, my hamster is very excited to see us perform one of these days. I don’t think his tiny heart could have handled hearing I was let go so early. Sorry am I rambling I feel like I am rambling. I ramble when I am nervous which I totally am since I thought I was about to be fired. Is fired the right word, or would it be let go? Maybe sent into early retirement?” I stop talking as Beca starts to laugh at my fear-induced stupor._

_“You told your hamster about us? I’m flattered.” I blush realizing I admitted to that._

_“Anyways me and Chloe talked and thought you could use some extra help. Since she has to work on choreography the job got left to me. So this is your one chance dude to learn anything and everything about the world of acapella.”_

_“Ooh. Um. Uh. I… I don’t know? When do we start singing?” I asked panicked at having to lead this impromptu meeting._

_“The girls are actually singing right now if you pay attention. Don’t worry Chloe will meet with you at some point and get you caught up on what they are doing now. Normally we would have been practicing since day one but with everything going on it sort of slipped our minds at how underprepared you would be.”_

_“Okay.” I stare at the floor awkwardly trying to figure out anything I could ask. Like the Beca Mitchell is right here and will answer anything I want._

_“Legacy I can feel your brain overheating from here. How about we go over the basics? Sound good?”_

_“Sounds Aca-Awesome.” I cringe internally after seeing the slight reaction Beca has to that statement._

_“Let's just go over it all okay? I’m the one in charge of all the setlists and usually one of the main solo performers in the group. Chloe, and to a minor extent Stacie, are the choreographers and decide the moves we cover. Chloe can come off as very intense, and she is honestly very intense, but she loves nothing more than this group and will probably die for any of us without hesitation. Stacie is very open, trust me when I say don’t ask her about how she spends her nights because it gets very graphic very fast. She is also super smart and if you ever need help on classwork she is the go-to person. Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose are some of our more solid performers honestly are sort of the wildcard people in our group. Flo may seem a little odd at times, trust me, but she is super nice and will usually be willing to help you practice some singing if needed.” After a few seconds, I realize she was done talking._

_“What about Jessica? And Ashley?”_  
  
_“Ooh, yea. They are fine performers and keep to themselves mostly.” That statement threw me off since so far the only person who has really acknowledged me has been them so far since most of the Bella’s only interact with me as much as they need to and definitely don’t wave to me as I head off to meetings with one of the co-leaders._

_“Should. Should I give a quick recap of myself? Since I am sort of new it’s not like anyone but Stacie has really met me, and that's only because I am sleeping in the corner of her room.”_

_“Whatever works dude.”_

_“Okay. Well, I guess you know I am Emily. I got in because of my mom. Um… I have a hamster named Tupac. I don’t know why I suggested this I am terrible at things.” I say flustered trying to think of anything interesting to say about myself. Like all of the Bella’s have such cool interesting stuff about them and I’m just some legacy who got in through name recognition._

_“Whoa, dude. You didn’t get because of your mom. I heard you singing a few times when alone and you are pretty amazing. Plus Chloe wouldn’t have let you in if she didn’t think you had something to offer.”_

_“Ooh, I just assumed I was called Legacy because nobody thought I deserved to be here and I was only in because I was a legacy.”_

_“Emily, we want you to be here. I promise. I will stop calling you legacy if it bothers you so much.”_

_“Oh my stars I made you feel bad, didn't I? Here you are offering to give me advice and wisdom and I made you feel bad because of my own worries. I should just go crawl into a hole and die.”_

_“Emily. It’s fine. You gotta learn how to chill out. We want you here. If we didn’t I wouldn’t be doing this. The nickname was never meant to make you feel bad and that is our fault. Hope you are ready for the onslaught you’ll get from Chloe as soon as she learns you dislike the nickname.”  Beca laughs at my face that probably looks a good mix of fear and regret. Before I can say anything else on the matter though she changes tune._

_“Anyways how about I give a small bit about myself? Only seems fair after you poured your soul out to me.” Beca says. I smile at and give a nod to let her continue. “Well I didn't even want to go to college, wanted to be a D.J. in L.A. but my dad forced me to go to college. Told me I had to choose something to do with my time I somehow became a Bella. I like music, I will actually kick you from the Bella’s if you ever wake me up before 9 am, I don’t care if the world is ending. I’m gay, which isn’t relevant but you are bound to learn it eventually. Better me than from one of the various gossipers in the house. I love music. And yea. I guess that's me. Pretty boring stuff.”_

_“That isn’t boring at all. All I had was that I own a hamster. Your story is way cooler. I do have one thing though,” I say pausing. Unsure how to proceed with my question without coming off terrible. “How come you always seem to be in such a rush? Like are you seeing someone or something?”_

_“Nope.” Beca says popping her p, “not seeing anyone at the moment. You trying to make a move Legacy?”_

_“What? Me? What? NO? Me? Never?” I say trying while trying to learn in the moment how to phase through walls._

_“Chill dude, I was making a joke. Anyways do you have anything else you wanna cover or can we go back in? I should probably make sure they haven’t burned the place down, don’t tell them I told you but last year they almost burned the place down when I was sick and unable to be the adult. Chloe banned anyone from ever telling the story, but if you look closely you can still see some areas that are slightly blackened.” Beca says looking at me expectantly._

_“Nope. Totally cool over here. I am set. Completely informed. Nothing else to cover. Guess it’s time to sing right?” I say sticking my hand up awkwardly for a high five. Beca looks at me quizzically for a split second before high fiving me then wandering back into the gym. After taking a few seconds to calm down from the interaction I wander back into the gym ready to practice._

_Seeing that Beca had already taken her place next to Chloe at the front of the group I try and hang back because I am not really sure where I am supposed to be yet. Looking over I can see someone making their way towards me, I’m pretty sure it’s Jessica._

_“Hey Legacy, everything okay? You guys were gone for a bit?” Jessica whispers as to not draw attention to us._  
  
_“Totally. Beca just wanted to give me some one on one help is all. Since you know, I’m sort of out of the loop on most stuff.”_

_“You and me both sisters. I swear 95% of the time nobody even notices me or Ashley are here.” Jessica says laughing in a self-deprecating sort of way._

_“Well, I think they are missing out. Honestly out of Stacie, and Beca just now, this is pretty much the only time anyone has willingly talked to me first. Besides Fat Amy, if she wants to make fun of me.”_  
  
_“Guess I have the honor then. If you aren’t busy after practice we could hang out. Usually, me and Ashley do stuff but she has to study. We can get ice cream at a small place I know around the corner.” I stand there stunned for a few seconds. First Beca wants to help me out, now another Bella wants to willingly spend time with me._

_“Sounds aca-awesome,” I say loudly. I look towards the front and see that most of the girls are looking at me for my sudden outburst. “Oh. My bad. Sorry, please continue Chloe you’re doing great.”_

_“I was the one talking Legacy,” Beca says. I turn to Jessica for support to see she had left leaving me alone._

_“Totally, yup you were talking. I was testing you. Congrats, you passed. Please continue.” I say awkwardly. Nobody seems entertained by what I said besides Beca, who I can see quietly laughing to herself for a second._  
  
_“Okay so as I was saying…” Beca states trying to get the meeting back on track and explaining the plan on how we will beat DSM._

_“Legacy, meet me after class and we can go to the ice cream place,” Jessica says appearing next to me again. I jump and put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from yelling. I can tell that Beca notices my reaction because she raises her eyebrow for a split second while looking at me. I just mouth ‘sorry’ in her direction._  
  
_“Ok. I should probably pay attention though I have made enough of a mess as it is today.” Jessica seems content with this as she leaves again to go stand next to Ashley._

_~~     ~~_

_“You okay Legacy?” Beca says walking up to me at the end of the meeting. “You seemed a little bit out of it after we returned.”_  
  
_“Nope. I was just making plans to hang out with Jessica is all. Sorry I made a disruption and wasn’t paying attention after all the help you gave me I feel super bad since it felt as though I was being rebellious but in reality, I was just excited one of you guys actually wanted to spend time with me that wasn’t required you know?” I say in one breath at the sudden guilt of my actions hitting me._

_“Whoa. Wait has nobody really spent time with you yet? Weren’t you at the mandatory Bella bonding event we had like 3 days ago?”_

_“Well yeah. But like unless it's a Bella thing I haven’t really spent any time real time with anyone. If you don’t count the time I spend with Stacie in our room together, I’ve probably spent the most time with you out of anyone so far.”_

_“Shit dude. I didn’t realize that. I may not be great at like… emotions and shit, but if you like ever wanna like… You are like a part of us. Shit. What I am trying to say is if you ever wanna hang dude, like I can make time. You seem like a sweet girl, and we are sisters and all that crap.” Beca says stuttering out what I think is an offer to spend time together. She blushes and looks away as soon as she finishes._

_“That sounds awesome Beca. I’d love that. Thanks for being so amazing today I totally owe you.” I say pulling Beca into a hug. She tenses up but after a few seconds, she relaxes and pats my back a few times before pulling back._

_“Don’t tell anyone know I said that though, I got a rep around here for being a badass,” Beca says glaring at me._

_“Secrets safe with me. If it helps I think your badass. Saving the Bella’s and all. I was like totally obsessed with your guys Nationals video when it came out. Your jams totes inspired me to start my own songwriting if I am being honest.”_

_“Damn legacy. You should play me something sometime if it is based off of ‘my jams’”_  
  
_“Whaaaa…  You want to hear my music?”_

_“It's almost as if I have spent the last several hours trying to get you to relax or something,” Beca says deadpanning at me._

_“I’m flattered. I would love to play you something. I have a song I am working on I think you might like.”_

_“You should show me later, I have to run and it seems like Jessica is waiting for you over in the corner,” Beca says waving and running off before I could respond. I spend a few seconds collecting myself after the interaction and try to place the odd feeling I feel in my stomach before heading over to where Jessica is standing playing on her phone._

_“Hey, Jessica! I am super excited to get ice cream, like I totally knew the best ice cream place ever back home but since I got here I didn’t have anyone who would wander outside of campus with me to go looking and like I didn’t wanna go alone because I was worried about leaving campus since I don’t know anyone who could grab me if something happened you know?” I say in one quick breath. Jessica gives me a quizzical look before we both start laughing at how fast I was talking._

_“Well hope you are ready for this place, it is close enough to be easy to grab after practice, while also far enough out of the way that it is rarely packed with people from campus. Ashley and I have been going together for years so the owner knows us pretty well at this point. If you're lucky I may even be able to get you a discount while we are there.” Jessica says leading me towards the door. I give a quick wave to Stacie and Chloe who were still in the room talking as I leave, but I don’t think either of them really saw it._

_“Hey, Jessica can I ask a sort of personal question? About the Bella’s I mean.”_  
  
_“Sure what’s up?”_

_“Do you ever feel as though you aren’t really part of the group? Like, in all honesty, your the first person who wanted to spend time with me. And I guess a part of me is worried that maybe I don’t fit in you know? You guys had years together and here I am, the weird awkward girl who joined the group several years after everyone else.”_

_“Honestly? Yea I do. I swear 95% of the time nobody would even notice and me and Ashley didn’t show up to something. We are pretty much left entirely to our own devices. I mean yea it is useful at times since we don’t have to deal with Chloe’s insane rants about how important the Bella’s are or how we need to beat DSM. Sometimes I wish that we were more involved, most of the time I doubt most of the Bella’s know my name.” I stop walking for a second realizing I also couldn’t tell the two of them apart meer hours ago. Even though Jessica reached out to me and tried to involve me even a little._  
  
_“Oh-my-stars. I am so sorry, I am also guilty of that. Honestly, everything has been so overwhelmed I barely can remember how to get to practice most days, and outside of Stacie, Beca, and Chloe, I don’t really know anyone that well yet.”_

_“Don’t worry about it. That's what tonight is all about, getting to know each other. I have been meaning to ask you since day one but I have been pretty busy, well me and Ashley but she couldn’t make it tonight but I could so I thought ‘eh if Legacy is cool we can invite her out to her next hang out also.’ you know? Not that this is a test though. From what you just said you already seem to care more than most of the Bellas do.” Jessica says laughing at the end trying to play it off as a joke. Even though I can see in her eyes that she is sort of hurt by it._  
  
_“Well, I promise I won’t mix you two up ever again. I pinky promise.” I say as I stick my pinky out. Jessica looks at me for a second before realizing I am totally serious. Then sticks her hand out and completes the pinky promise. “Anyways how come you two don’t invite the others to hang out with you?”_

_“We honestly tried a few times. Nobody seemed to be very interested so we stopped caring. I think Flo came with us twice, and Cynthia-Rose once. Also, Aubrey ran into us once when we were there but that doesn’t count since we only exchanged formalities.”_  
  
_“I sure hope I will be allowed to go occasionally. Nothing better than ice cream and friendship you know? Not to intrude on you two or anything, but it seems like it could be fun to hang out with you two on occasion.”_  
  
_“I mean, as long as you aren’t an asshole you are always able to come with us. And if you want to be an asshole you better at least be very funny to counteract it. But you seem to be as mean as a bunny so I doubt that’s gonna be an issue.”_

_“That's true. I can’t be mean. Last time I was Tupac wouldn’t talk to me for 4 days.”_

_“Wait. The rapper Tupac, who died in before you were born, didn’t talk to you for being mean?” Jessica says confused._

_“Actually… I um. Tupac is the name of my hamster.”_

_“Oh my god Legacy, that's adorable.”_

_“Beca said the same thing.” I say as Jessica holds the door for me to ice cream shop ‘Scoops n' Smiles’._

_Letting the conversation die for a second we both go up and order, I get strawberry while Jessica gets triple chocolate. After we are handed our scoops I follow Jessica to a corner spot so we can sit and chat without the noise of the rest of the shop._

_“That reminds me. I was curious what did you and Beca discuss on your one and one? You mentioned getting extra help but that seems like Chloe’s type of thing. Or even pawning it off on one of the other girls before doing it herself.”_

_“Nothing much. Beca just sort of gave me a rundown about how things are and give me a little more info on everyone.”_

_“Really? That seems like that wouldn’t have taken that long. Our rundown was like 5 minutes when we got one in our freshman year.”_  
  
_I laugh while rubbing behind my head, “well actually she also just wanted to talk a bit I guess. Like we talked about ourselves a little bit and she reassured me I should be a Bella and not just a legacy.”_

_“Huh. Do you think you are only in cause you are a legacy?”_

_“I mean I sort of did.” I say chuckling awkwardly, “but Beca shot that down real quick.”_

_“If she didn’t I would have. You are a great singer and deserve to be here as much as anyone. But if it bothers you, Emily, you should bring it up to someone. Outside of Fat Amy, I am sure everyone will stop calling you legacy if it bothers you.” Jessica says. I notice the fact she said my name for the first time. Contemplating my next words carefully._  
  
_“I mean. I have thought about it. But I guess I don’t want to be a bother to anyone you know? You guys have like 3 or 4 years together. While I am just the awkward new girl. It is just a nickname.”_

_“Well, I will at least tell Ashley to make sure to not call you that if it helps.”_  
  
_“Thanks. It's really not a big issue. Just me overthinking like normal.” I say trying to play off the issue._

_“Anyways, back to a more lighthearted conversation, how have classes been so far? You adjusting to Barden okay?”_  
  
_“It’s been okay I guess. I honestly haven’t made a ton of friends yet so most of the time I just spend by myself in my room studying, or doing Bella stuff you know?”_  
  
_“Well, you can always come hang out with me and Ashley if you want. We may be sorta boring but it's better than sitting alone in your room all day.”_

_“Plus classes have been killing me. I know you should expect a bigger challenge once you start college but I feel super underprepared. One of my psych classes already assigned us a 10-page essay due in 2 weeks.”_

_“You know I am a psych major so I may be able to help you, which class is it?”_

_“Its 202, intro to psychology.”_  
  
_“Oh, I remember that class. If you have Mr. Johnson I am sorry for you, that guy was a total nightmare of a teacher.”_

_“Yup that's who I have.”_  
  
_“If you want you can borrow my notes from the class anytime, and I am sure I still have my old essays saved somewhere on my laptop for you to look at. If you end up taking more psychology classes though let me know. I can tell you which teachers to avoid.”_

_“It's my major so I sure hope I take more classes for it eventually,” I say laughing. “I will take you up on that though, thanks you're a lifesaver.”_

_“Well I hope you take more too then,” Jessica says laughing, “If you take 240 next term I will actually be the T.A., I won’t be able to give you any hints or anything but at least you will have a friendly face in the room.”_

_“Wait is that allowed?”_  
  
_“I mean they can’t ban my friend from taking a class I am a T.A. for, and since I won’t give you any help that I won’t offer everyone else there wouldn’t be any issues.”_  
  
_“Oh my stars that sounds amazing. Thanks, Jessica you’re the best.” I say as I leaned over and give the girl a quick hug._

_“Any time. You’re part of the Bella’s and we stick out for one another. Plus you’re a sweet girl. If you ever need help with anything though feel free to ask me.”_

_“Thanks, I am definitely going to take you up on that.”_

_“Anyways as much as I would love and chat longer I do need to head out and study for a bit if that's okay?”_

_“Definitely cool with me. Super chill over here. Thanks for the ice cream adventures.”_

_“You got my number right? So you can text me?”_  
  
_“I think so? I’m in the Bella’s chat but honestly, outside of Flo and Stacie I haven’t really figured out who is who yet.”_

_“I'm the one that ends in 2463. Feel free to text me any time. Have a fun rest of the night, and don’t forget that every week after we practice and you’re always allowed to join us.” Jessica says getting up from the table._  
_“Thanks, have a fun night too!” I say waving at the girl as she leaves._

_I go up front to get a second scoop of vanilla before sitting back down and putting some headphones in. I think about all that has happened the past few hours. I somehow ended up befriending at least one of Bellas and having an understanding with another. Also, I do not get all the rumors I heard about Beca, she is wonderful. She was super nice and caring the whole time and even tried to make me feel better about feeling like an outsider._

_Then Jessica. Who honestly from what I heard from everyone was pretty much nonexistent and tends to disappear and reappear all the time. But she was super nice and gave me some valuable advice during our meeting. Plus I now can get weekly ice cream with her and Ashley which is gonna be totally aca-awesome._

~~     ~~

It has been several months since that day and Emily so far has only missed the Tuesday ice cream jamboree twice. Once because she was sick, and once because she had a big test the next day and had to study. Plus she even convinced Stacie to go with her once and it was a total blast. After the initial meeting though Jessica was more willing to reach out and give her advice about college and her various classes which is always helpful. The two girls developed a close bond and even though Emily would never admit it, Jessica is by far her favorite Bella behind Beca.

It was also the day her friendship with Beca began. The girl had been adamant about trying to make her feel like part of the group, and would constantly go out of her way to involve Emily in things. After they started dating Beca informed her that it was her form of flirting because Emily was too dense to ever notice the actual flirting the girl was doing.

Chloe also almost exploded when she learned that Emily felt like an outsider, she baked an apology cake and everything to make it up to her. Then spent several hours going over all sorts of inside jokes the Bella’s have so that Emily would never feel left out ever again. Plus she would let Emily chose the group bonding activity occasionally even though it was usually just a movie or something lowkey.

Looking back Emily realizes just how many important moments happened to her on that day, and how even more stemmed from things that happened that day.

Now all she has to do is figure out how to move forward with Beca. All while trying to survive the chaos that is the rest of the Bella’s trying to help her achieve her goals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be real this was originally supposed to only be a small portion of the next chapter, but it got long enough I felt it would be on its own.


	4. Planning

Emily understands that everyone in the house just wants to help her and Beca be happy. She even appreciates how much effort that Stacie and Chloe have put in since they learned about everything 14 hours ago. One thing she does not appreciate though is the group text that has been dubbed: Operation Love.

**C.B. :D**

**Guys I think it’s important to minimize the potential hazards of this plan Beca would want simple trust me  
**   


For the past two hours, her phone has been blowing up nonstop from the text as the four girls attempt to figure out a plan. Emily honestly doesn’t even understand how the four are able to text so fast. She swears she is getting at least 3 a minute. Which made it very hard to not let Beca see earlier when she got out of the shower.

**Super sexy one**

**We all know what a sap is Beca is for Em she will love a big move  
**   


Which reminds her, she really needs to change her phone password so Stacie will stop going through and changing her contact name. It has led to more than one awkward interaction so far. Although Beca had laughed the first time she saw the name, she didn’t want to push her luck since each name seems to be worse than the last.

**Ash :)**

**I don’t get why we don’t just do the same plan as before. I already have the fireworks  
**   


Out of the seemingly endless texts she has been getting all morning the only person who seems to be making much sense has been Ashley. Stacie and Chloe were trying their best to help, but the two of them have very different ideas on how to go about it.

**C.B. :D**

**The best idea is to be simple. If I thought going big would work on Beca I would have been able to get her to agree with way more of my suggestions for the Bella’s  
**   


The only real redeeming factor of this experience is that Emily saw the two girls act completely different than they normally do. Usually, Chloe is all about going big an extravagant and doing everything to the nth degree. While Stacie is laid back and chill. The two swapping roles was not something that was expected when this chat started, nor did she expect either one to be so adamant about their idea that they wouldn’t want to budge.

**Super sexy one**

**Thats no fun though babe. This has to be a story worth telling. This is arguably the most important moment in Bella history.  
**   


**Ash :)**

**You realize we have won national championships right? Also why don’t we just ask Emily anyways I know she is reading all of these messages**

**  
Actually, me and Jess are meeting at 1 to discuss it…**

 

She knows the girls just want to help. That the entire argument and debates that have been happening the past few hours have been entirely based around helping her. Yet it is hard to not question if it was a good idea to tell them that she is already planning on meeting with Jessica. Meeting one on one was going to be a lot less stressful than any sort of group meeting would be. Based on the sheer number of texts she has received in the past 30 seconds she can already tell the others are probably not thrilled about being left out of the meeting. Plus Jessica has sent maybe 3 texts since she started the group chat so she may have overstepped and shouldn’t have even mentioned it in the first place.

**J xD**

**Guys we are meeting at Starbucks. If you really want to be there you can. But let's wait until then to figure out a plan okay? At this rate we will achieve nothing but killing all of our collective phones  
**   


~~     ~~  


Ignoring the glare Emily gets from the girl next to her, she taps her foot repeatedly watching the seconds on the clock slowly move. She swears time always moves slower the more anxious you are for something. Despite the girls texting less than before, it hasn’t stopped from a new text at least every 5 minutes or so. She even received a text from Flo at one point about last night. But she can’t honestly tell what Flo actually knows. There is a good chance she just heard the conversation between Chloe and Beca and doesn’t know about the plan. Either way, the story of her brother getting kidnapped will hopefully never be relevant to her life.

**C.B. :D**

**Look outside!!  
**   


Failing to casually check her phone and getting another glare from the girl next to her Emily looks towards the door. Outside the crack in the door, she can see the bubbly ginger waving at her animatedly. Waving back awkwardly Emily turns her attention to the lecture trying to pay attention for the last few seconds. Waiting a few moments for the teacher to dismiss the class before packing her bag. Then shuffling out after the rest of the class had already left.

“Hey, so I thought before we met I could talk to you cause I know Stacie knows you better so I gotta get to you first and explain to you why you gotta be chill about this okay?” Chloe says pulling Emily into a hug.

“Chloe? How do you even know where my class is???” Emily says returning the hug.

“Ooh. Sweetie, I know all the Bella’s schedules. It’s important to know where every Bella is at all times in case I need them, or they need me.” Chloe says cheerfully before walking down the hallways practically dragging Emily alongside her. “Anyways as I was saying, I think the best way for you to tell Beca is to just do it casually, like say it at dinner tonight. Don’t make a big deal out of it, I’ve known Beca longer than anyone, and I am the only one besides you who has seen her naked, so I know what I am talking about.”

“Wait. You saw. You. How? What?”

“It was freshman year, it's how I learned she could sing.  I may not swing that way, but I questioned a lot of things that day, you are a lucky girl Em.”

“Um. I. Um. Thanks? I think?”

“Any time now seriously we gotta talk about this before Stacie gets to you, I love the girl but she is a romantic at heart and is gonna make this an explosive event.”

“Technically speaking it already was an explosive event, cause the fireworks and all. Plus don’t you think we should just wait for everyone anyway? We are gonna be there soon anyways.”

“Hey Em, Hey Chloe! What are you two doing?” Beca says, walking up with two coffee cups in her hands. “I didn’t expect a third or I would have gotten more coffee, sorry Beale,” Beca states while handing off one of the cups to Emily.

“Wow. Is this for me babe? I love it thanks.” Emily says pulling Beca into a hug and kissing her cheek.

“We have been friends for how many years Bec? You never bring me coffee.”

“Well Beale, we aren’t sleeping together.”

“If I had known that was the prereq maybe our freshman year would have been a little different,” Chloe says dodging a playful slap from Beca.

“Anyways, I came to see Emily. I am blowing off class and wanted to know if you wanted to go visit that vinyl shop off campus you were telling me about.”

“You can’t ditch class! You are this close to graduating and I can’t, as your best friend, allow you to do this.”

“Last time I checked you should be the last person getting on my case. Plus I was asking Emily, my girlfriend, if she wanted to join me.”

“I would love to Beca.” Emily states, before looking at the glare Chloe was giving her, “but I can’t.”

“Why? Cause Chloe? What can she do to you? Not hug you for a week, big whoop.”

“Excuse me I am right here,” Chloe says.

“My point exactly.”

“Actually… I sort of already got other plans sorry. If I had known you wanted to do this I wouldn’t have made them.”

“Ooh. Cool. It’s alright dude. Well, Beale looks like you are in.”  
  
“Wait. Was I not always in? You were just gonna take your girlfriend and abandon me all alone?”

“What. No. God dude, you were invited. But now that Emily isn't in we can go, it has been a while since we did anything together without the Bella’s around.” Beca states.

Emily is able to see the internal conflict within Chloe. Both girls know that Stacie will most likely get her way if Chloe isn’t at the meeting. But that would involve blowing off Beca twice in two days. Beca looks more confused than anything since Chloe usually jumps on a chance to spend time with anyone.

“Oh. I can’t. I got… class?”

“You say that as if I don’t know your only class is on Thursday, which it isn’t.”

“Actually. We are meeting with Jes…” Emily says before Chloe throws her hands over her lips.  
  
“What was that?” Beca says accusingly.  
  
“Nothing. Nothing at all. I actually just thought I should spend more time with Legacy since you usually monetize on her free time. So we were on our way to grab coffee. I mean coffee for me seeing how you just got her coffee.” Chloe quickly states while covering Emily’s mouth.

“Yup. That. Totally.” Emily states after Chloe moves her hand.

“Is this your polite way of telling me to fuck off?”

“What? No, Beca we totes want you to come. But you need to go to class. You can meet us after class if you want.”

“Yea babe you need to go to class. I pinky promise we can go to the vinyl shop after that if you want. But education is important, at least that's what my mom always told me.” Emily says laughing uncomfortably at the end.

“We all know I am not going to class. So I guess I am joining you. Are we going to the shitty cheap place on campus or the nice place off 3rd street?”

“The nice one obviously. What are we savages?” Chloe states walking that way.

Emily feels her phone vibrate in her pocket and before she even checks it she knows it will either be Chloe, or Jessica wondering why she didn’t arrive early like normal.

**C.B. :D**

**We need to get rid of Beca.  
**   


Emily may lack tact in a lot of things, but even she knows bringing Beca to a meeting discussing the best way to tell the girl she loves her, isn’t the best plan. The only issue is that there is practically no way to casually get the girl to leave.

After walking for a few seconds Emily thinks of her hail mary idea and prays it works. Leaning down she whispers into Beca’s ear.  
  
Chloe turns confused when she sees Beca almost trip from the corner of her eye, both girls bright red next to her.

“Jesus Fuck Em, you care about my education way more than I do. But anyways. I am heading to class see you two nerds later.” Beca stutters refusing to look either girl in the eye before rushing away.

“What the fuck Em. How did you do that?” Chloe says eyeing the girl suspiciously. But Emily just turns redder at being questioned.

“Funny seeing you two here. I thought I was gonna be the last to arrive. Anyways I just ran into Beca and based off of how flustered she was you’d think Em went down on her or something.” Stacie says walking up to the pair.

“Oh my god Legacy you didn’t,” Chloe says laughing at Emily’s bright red face.

“Am I missing something?” Stacie says confused.  
  
“We ran into Beca and she was gonna join us until Emily whispered something to her that made her agree to go to class.”

“You little Minx Emily. I didn’t think you had it in you.” Stacie says laughing.

“It wasn’t like that at all.” Emily squeaks out.

“Sure it wasn’t sweetie, but we better hurry or we will be late,” Stacie says swatting Emily on the butt as she passes the girl.

The three enter the building after rushing over as to not be late. Emily drops off her empty cup into the trash and go and join Jessica and Ashley who are already sitting off in the corner. While Stacie and Chloe go to order something.

“Sup Em.” Jessica says as Emily sits down.

“Hey, guys!” Emily says waving excitedly at the duo. Ashley waves back while taking a sip from her drink.

“How did this morning go?” Jessica asks.

“It went fine. Beca made me breakfast which was totes aca-awesome.”  
  
“Yea I saw that. I ran into her this morning when she was bringing it to you. She thought she hurt your feelings so she made them as an apology.”  
  
“Aawww. My girlfriends the best. I hope she wasn’t to mean though I know how she is before 10 am.”  
  
“Nothing I can’t handle. If anything I am shocked she still doesn’t know my name.” 

“She still doesn’t know you two apart. It’s almost impressive considering how much I talk about you guys to her.”

“Aah Em you talk about us to your friends. That's adorable.” Jessica says jokingly pinching her cheek.

“You do realize I am like 3 years younger than you right. Plus like who else would I talk about? Tupac? Beca already hears about him daily. Gotta spice things up.”

“If you wanna spice things up Em I can lend you my whip, but promise to disinfect it before you return it,” Stacie says sitting down on one side of Emily, while Chloe sits on the other side.

“No. I. No.” Emily says looking down turning red.

“We haven’t even started yet and you already broke Emily. This is off to a great start.” Jessica says glaring at Stacie. Who puts her hands up in defense while looking smug.

“Before we get started. I talked to Jessica and we agree we should all say what we think the plan should be before we discuss it.” Ashley says trying to change the topic for Emily’s sake.

“I love that idea,” Chloe says happily. The others mostly shrug while Emily gives a thumbs up.

“Then I shall go first. I personally think we should continue with the fireworks idea. Since I don’t know what else to do with all these fireworks and the longer we have them in the house the higher the chances Fat Amy or Lilly find them. And we all know how well that will turn out.”

“Actually… About that. I may have been a tad optimistic, on how much permission we got to do that. So it may be smart to avoid using those for a few weeks.” Jessica states sheepishly.  
  
“What do you mean?” Chloe asks.

“I mean I went to the Dean and he sort of didn’t directly say we could do it. Technically he more said we strictly couldn’t do it. But like if we weren’t caught they couldn’t do anything.” Jessica responds trying not to look at Ashley.

“Are you saying if me and Stacie didn’t appear last night you were gonna break the law?”  
  
“I mean it was for Em, it would have been worth it.” Jessica retorts.

“You could have told me. I don’t want you to break the law for me Jess. I don’t want anything illegal to be apart of this confession.” Emily says piping up.

“There goes my first idea,” Stacie mutters to herself. Nobody but Emily hears her so they continue to argue while Emily looks over confused.

“So I have a bunch of illegal fireworks in our room and you weren’t gonna tell me? You know I would have still done it but damn, fill in a girl next time.” Ashley says.

“Sorry, Ash. This idea isn’t illegal I promise though. I think you should make her a mix. The girl is like obsessed with music and she would probably love nothing more than to hear a custom made song where you admit your love. It's a perfect mix of cheesy and romantic.” Jessica states to the group.

Each one ponders for a few seconds before Chloe pipes up. “I think it has potential. The key to Beca though is to not make it a big deal. Now if you said it while you two were goofing around making a mix together I think it would be better.”

“No way. This has to be big. You know Beca is super soft deep, deep down in that void of a soul of hers. If we are sticking to music, write her a nice love song. Play it while you go down on her as promised, and say at right at climax.” Stacie counters. Everyone laughs at how uncomfortable Emily looks with the entire idea.

“I think that's a great idea actually. Not the second half but like writing a love song. We can help do backup on it and everything.” Chloe says cheerfully.

“Does Emily even want us all there? Me and Ashley were only allowed to go the first time since we helped plan the fireworks. And I guess I helped write the speech that got butchered. Which reminds me we should probably revise it since she heard like a third of it.” Jessica states. Everyone turns to look at Emily.

“Ummm. I guess you guys can be there? I mean it is about Beca but like you can help?” Emily hesitantly answers.

“Aca-awesome. We can get started immediately. So can any of us write music?” Chloe says excitedly grabbing paper from her backpack.

“I can. I mean it’s not great or mind-blowing or anything. I wrote a cool song about a flashlight which I guess you heard already…” Emily says her voice fading as she realizes she shouldn't bring up that night in front of Chloe. “Anyways I think I can think of a short thing in the next few days.”

“Great. Do we have anything else to discuss or are we good here?” Stacie asks while glancing down at her phone.

“Nah, I think we are good. Everyone can leave if they want to.” Jessica responds.

After a few seconds, Stacie gets up to leave, along with Ashley who says something about missing class. She rushes out as soon as she sees the face Chloe gives her admitting to that.

“Well even without them we can still plan out the rest of the details,” Chloe says tapping her pencil against the paper.

“Is there much to plan?” Emily asks confused.

“Obviously. What time of day will it be, will it be indoors or outdoors, should we involve any of the other Bella’s, how will we get Beca to where we need her to be. Should we get Flo to bake a cake for the occasion. How long will the song be? What sort of attire should we be wearing.” Chloe states off casually flustering Emily. The poor girl is barely able to function during the last plan and even that had taken a week of practicing the speech to get right. And only Jessica and Ashley were around, and she couldn’t see them so it wasn’t as stressful.

“Whoa. Let's calm down Chloe, your gonna fry the poor girls brain if we try and go over this all right now. How about you create a basic idea of what you think is best and then give it to Emily to look over? She seems like she needs a few seconds to process everything.” Jessica says trying to subtly shoo Chloe away. Getting the sign Chloe gives the girls hugs and leaves to start to create a plan.  
  
“You didn’t have to do that, I know she was just trying to help,” Emily says.

“I know, but I have been part of the Bella’s much longer than you. And if we didn’t get them to scatter right now then we would be stuck here all day. Then we would end up with a very bad idea since it would end up getting so massive it would never work. Luckily Ashley did actually skip class so she could get Stacie to leave without her getting F.O.M.O.”

“I know but still, I feel bad. They are being nice.”  
  
“You’re too nice you know that? Anyways, this is a shockingly good idea. Like none of the normal Bella insanity which is shocking with Chloe being involved. I love the girl but man she likes to go big or go home. And luckily this is the one time we got her to go home.”

“I guess you are right. I just hope Beca likes it. I feel I have been a terrible girlfriend the past day and a half when she has been going super out of her way for me.”

“That girl is whipped. Why not go surprise her after class or something. Most of the girls are going out tonight anyway so you guys will have the house to yourself to do whatever you want.”

“THAT'S GENIUS. Thanks, Jessica you're the best. Love you. I am gonna go study for a while before she gets out of class though, got a big test coming up."

“Have fun. And use protection, I’m too young to be an aunt.” Jessica says laughing as Emily trips on her chair at her statement.

“What did I do to deserve this today.” Emily whispers to herself as she leaves, waving to Jessica goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someday I will figure out how to write Chloe.


End file.
